Spring Awakening @ the TONY'S

[ozone20]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 10:21am

OK. i will start out by saying that i have NOT seen this show yet so perhaps in the context of things I will be blown over and amazed and jump on the bandwagon once i do. Having said that, i must say the numbers performed last night by the Spring Awakwenig cast CLEARLY needed a brief dialogue set up in my opinion. These songs simply were not good enough to stand on their own.
i watched curiously in puzzlement and all i got was a bunch manic kids jumping around the stage singing 2 songs that assumingly work in the context of things but fail outside of that. Being that this was a national brodcast was this the BEST they had to offer? i'll reserve OVER RATED until i see it. it was all just manic pointless and unmoving to me. those songs werent good enough at all to be performed on their own. I say this because with all the accolade that this show has garnered I was expecting to be blown away or at least moved. I wasnt impressed in the slightest and i LOVE rock musicals.

hmmm...


Updated On: 6/11/07 at 10:21 AM

[shesamarshmallow]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 10:22am

In their entirety, the songs are 100% better OUT of context.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 10:46am

The performance was poorly done in my opinion. They tried to fit several "censored" songs into a spot for one song, so none of it made sense and certainly wouldn't sell the show to anyone who wasn't sure about seeing it. I saw the show and loved it. They needed to focus on one song instead of trying to get the entire cast on stage. Plus, when you have people changing lyrics and holding their hand over their mouths for an expletive, it makes no sense to someone who hasnt seen the show and alienates them.People who have seen the show and know the music get the joke, but others don't and it looks lame A really stupid move IMO.

[ozone20]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 10:48am

I can hear an abridged version of Season Of Love for expample and know that its a great song that stands on its own. cant say the same for those abridged SA songs.
Updated On: 6/11/07 at 10:48 AM

[Tchi4Lif188]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 10:57am

Ugh, LAME. And their performance last night, I'll agree it wasn't too bad in the show, but why did they choose to do "Totally F***ed" if they were going to destroy it? And best choreography? Come on now. Apparently I'm just in the minority who didn't feel all these awards were desereved. :/

[gymdudeva]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 11:01am

I am a huge SA fan, but I agree with most of the above. They largely reinforced the stereotype that it's a bunch of kids jumping around incoherently.

(For those of you who haven't seen it, those are the only two songs that are that way at all.)

Bitch of Living was OK (even if the temp was way too fast), but then they should have gone into one of the ballads (Touch Me or Purple Summer, which would sound great adbridged, in the vein of what ozone says above. ). Instead, that cutesily censored version of Totally F*cked was just incoherent and just looked chaotic.

And I don't think Mama Who Bore Me is a good choice at all...I just think it's one of the weaker songs in the show.

I two different songs (one upbeat, one ballad) would have been much better. Like what Rent did years ago.

However, I don't think any of the other shows really grabbed either. One can argue that GG was even less effective.

[ozone20]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 11:09am

If the Grey Gardens number was a bit weak Kristine Ebersole's performance made up for it. At least they had THAT to offer.
She was enough to make me want to give that show a go see for sure.
Awakening just tanked all over the place song wise and perormance wise. Someone's resting on the laurels of their popularity i think.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 11:12am

Yes, but Grey Gardens had a chance to showcase a more celebratory number like Five Fifteen or Peas In a Pod. They could have also taken a chance and let Mary Louise do her numbers which people just eat up. Audiences adore "The Cake I Had" and "Jerry Likes My Corn." Plus, Ebersole gets speaking parts in both. That would have been a smarter route to showcase GG in a different light.

[ozone20]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 11:20am

perhaps. i havent seen it yet. but with what they offered kristine's performance sold tickets for sure.

Awakening tanked and just bought confusion and puzzlment.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 11:22am

I am not sure Christine's performance will sell tickets. That is the number the show has led with in publicity for over the past year. It is nothing new or surprising.

[gymdudeva]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 11:29am

I agree with Betty. I think the choice of number for GG was good....it's got all that funny dialog in between that sets up Act 2 and really explains what's going on. On stage, I thought it was a gem, but it fell flat last night..I don't know if it was rushed through, abridged, or what... I agree that SA was a mess, it's better to get noticed than not, better to and SA, in both last night's performance and in general, has sure stirred a lot of interest and debate.

I think GG and SA both tanked, but at least SA was intriguing in some respects, and sure wasn't dull....

[ozone20]

Posted: 6/11/07 at 11:47am

dull may not have be the word to use but MESS isnt any better. I or any one esle could have gotten on that stage and streeked naked and that wouldnt be dull either but what would be the point? SA's performance felt so pointless and boggling so it might as well have been dull.
Updated On: 6/11/07 at 11:47 AM